The Food & Health Bureau and the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department (AFCD) today launched a two-month public consultation on the proposal to amend Schedule 2 to the Veterinary Surgeons Registration Ordinance.

Since the first cohort of students of a veterinary school of the City University of Hong Kong will soon enter the academic years of clinical training, they must receive the necessary clinical training to graduate and practise as a veterinary surgeon.

Currently, the ordinance only permits veterinary students to undergo some of the clinical training.

After reviewing the current legislation, the Government proposed amending the ordinance to permit anyone who is in full-time study of a veterinary programme at a local or Veterinary Surgeons Board of Hong Kong recognised veterinary school, college or institution, to practise acts of veterinary surgery under the direct and continuous supervision of a registered veterinary surgeon as part of the training requirement.

The consultation document has been uploaded to the bureau's website and the AFCD website.

Members of the public can express their views by email to tsdiq@afcd.gov.hk; by fax to 2156 0215; or by post to the Technical Services Division, Inspection & Quarantine Branch of the AFCD, 5/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices, 303 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Kowloon by January 22, 2021.

Enquiries can be made by calling 2150 7165 or 2150 6904.